Buckle



w. GENCY 2,166,466

BUCKLE July 18, 1939.

Filed Nov. 13,' 1937 L ki@ telescopes into the other and engages same in` Patented July 18, 1939 UNITED STATES BUCKLE William Gency, New Britain, Conn., assignor to North and Judd Manufacturing Company, New Britain, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application November 13, 1937, Serial No. 174.382.

4 Claims.

'Ihis invention relates to' buckles for wearing apparel such as belts.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved buckle of the type wherein onepart interlocking position.

A A further object is a buckle which is simple in construction and effective in operation and so manufactured that upon slipping one part within the other `they will interlock and remain interlocked until manually released;

"Other objects will bein part obvious andin part pointed out more in detail hereinafter.

The invention accordingly Yconsists in the featuresV of "construction, combination vof elements, and 'arrangement of parts which will be exemplifled: in the construction hereafter'set forth and the scope of the application of whichwillbe indicated in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing wherein-is illustrated one embodiment which' the present invention may take:

Figure l is a front view of the'buckle as applied to the' end of a belt;

Fig.' 2 is a' rear view of the assembled buckle in locked position;"

Fig.V 3 is area'r view of Vthe front member of th buckle;

Fig. 4 is a rearview of the rear member of the buckle y .A .i

Fig'. 5 is a sectional view on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2; f

" Fig. 6 lis a plan view partially broken away to show the parts in interlocking engagement; "Fig 7 is a view similar to Fig. 6 showing the relative position of the parts as they are moved into interlocking engagement; and

Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig.` 7 with the rear plate moved further towards interlocking engagement.

Referring to the drawing, there yisv provided a front plate A and a rear plate B; the rear'plate being adapted to telescope Within plate A and be detachably connected thereto. These plates may be of any desired shape and conguration and are preferably formed from stampings of sheet metal having an inherent resiliency. Each plate is provided at its trailing edge with a suitable -clamping member C adapted to secure each member to one end of a belt D. The foregoing plates are all of usual construction and are common to buckles of this type.

In accordance with the present invention, the front plate A is preferably longitudinally curved and has rearwardly turned anges I I at its upper and lower edges which are substantially coextensive with the Width vof the plate A. Turned in-` wardly from flanges II and parallel to plate A are a pair of oppositely disposed flanges or guide members I2 which are spaced from plate A to serve as a guide therewith. The guide members I2 are relatively narrow, and the trailing edges I3 of each kfurther serve as a locking shoulder.

The rear plate B is stamped fromone piece andis of such size that its top and bottom marginal edges are receivable within the guideway formed byA flanges Il, member I2 and the rear face ofthe front plate A. Plate B has cut therein oppositely disposed symmetrical slots I4 which extend from the top and'bottom marginal edges at a point left of the vertical center angularly toward the trailing edge and terminate at spaced points to` the right ofthe center, thus dividing.

the plate into a body part I5 and a spring mem ber I6 extending outwardly from the body Ypart and interconnected thereto by the throat or biasing connection II intermediate of the ends of the slots. VThe body'part I5 includes the two outwardly extending fingers I8, the leading edges of which are rounded to form positioning shoulders I9. The spring member I6'has its marginal edges rearwardly turned to form locking lips 2U having'camm'ed rear faces 2| and locking shoulders 225 Inasmuch as the trailing edge of the spring member IB is symmetrical to the leading edge of the body portion l5, the locking lips are y adjacent the leading edge of the outwardly extending fingers I8 of the body part with the positioning shoulders `Ill intermediate of the locking lips 20'vand the'throat or biasing connection I'I, and the throatI'I intermediate of shoulders I9 and the trailing 'edge of plate B. Plate B is further distorted to angularly space the spring member II'in va plane rearwardly of the plane of the body part I5, thus'angularly spacing the locking lips 20 fromthe'positioning shoulders I9, but it is apparent that if spring I6 and locking lips 20 are biased rearwardly the locking lips will be in substantial alignment `with the shoulders -(see' Fig. 8).

With the arrangement described, it will be noted that the spacing betweeny the front face 23 of flanges I2 and the rear face of plate A is less than the angular spacing between the cam faces 2| of the locking lips 20 and the positioning shoulders I9, and also that the ange I2 is of greater width than the distance between the trailing edge or locking shoulder 22 of the locking lips 20 and the trailing edge of the guide member I3. Thus, when plate B is inserted into plate A, the cam face 2| of locking lips 20 will be received on the front face 23 of guide members I2 whereupon the plate B may be moved until positioning shoulder I9 abuts the rear face of plate A (see Fig. 7). Upon moving the rear plate further towards locking engagement, the spring I6 will be biased or pivoted on the throat I'I to cause the locking lips to be moved forwardly into substantial alignment with the positioning shoulders I9 and when moved a predetermined distance greater than the width of guide I2 the spring I6, because of the inherent resiliency of the metal, will assume its normal position relative' to body part I5 and position the locking shoulders 22 in engagement with the trailing edges I3 of the guide member I2 and retain `the plates in interlocked engagement. With the parts so positioned, in order torelease same it is necessary to press forwardly on the spring member I6, thus pivoting it to lift the locking lips 20 out of engagement with the trailing edges I3. With the locking lips thus moved into substantial alignment with the positioning shoulders I9, plate B may be slipped out of engagement with plate A.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the language E* used in the following claims is intended to cover all of the generic and specic features of the invention herein described and all statements of the scope o-f the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

I claim as my invention:

1. A buckle of the character described, comprising two separable plates, one of said plates being provided with oppositely disposed guide members spaced rearwardly from and parallel thereto, the other plate being receivable between said guide members and said first plate, said second plate having a body portion and a spring.

member extending outwardly and angularly spaced from the body portion and resiliently connected thereto, rearwardly turned locking lips provided on the marginal edges of said spring member and engageable behind the trailing edge of said guide members, the angular spacingy of said locking lips from said body portion of said second plate being greater than the spacing between said rst plate and the guide members of said first plate, whereby when said locking lips are inserted behind said guidek member said spring will be biased into substantial alignment with the body portion to permit said plates to be moved into interlocking engagement.

2. A buckle of the character described, comprising two separable plates, one of said ,plates being provided with oppositely disposed guide member when the body portion abuts the rear face of said rst plate, whereby said spring will be biased into substantial alignment with the body portion to permit said second plate to be moved into interlocking engagement with said first plate.

V3. A buckle of the character described, comprising two separable plates, one of said plates being provided with oppositely disposed guide members spaced rearwardly from and parallel thereto and provided with a trailing edge, the other plate being receivable `between said guide members and said rst plate, said second plate having a body portion, a spring member extend-A ing outwardly from the bodyportion and resiliently connected thereto, said spring lmember having at its marginal edges rearwardly turned locking lips engageable behind the trailing edge of said guide members, positioning shoulders carried by said body portion intermediate of said locking lips and resilient connection, said locking lips being positioned rearwardly of the plane of said shoulders and adapted when inserted behind said guide means to be biased into alignment with said shoulders whereby said second plate may bemoved into interlocking engagement with said rst plate.

4. A buckle of the character described comprising two separable plates, one-of said plates being provided with oppositely' disposed guide members spaced rearwardly from and parallel thereto, the other plate being receivable between said guide members and said first plate,` said..` second plate having a body portion, a spring member extending outwardly from the body portion and resiliently .connected thereto, said spring member having at its marginal edges rearwardly turned locking lips provided with cammed faces and adapted to be engaged behind the trailing edge of said guide members;@positioning shoulders carried by said body portion intermediate of said locking-lips and resilient connection, said locking lips.,=being` angularly spaced from said shoulders/whereby when said cam surfaces are ,f received, on the front face of said guide members said shoulders -abut rvthe rear face of said first plate where upon further movement of said second plate said locking lips will be biased into substantial alignment with said shoulders to permit said second plate to be moved into interlocking engagement with said rst plate.

WILLIAM GENCY.

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